| All Scripture quotes are from
the New King James Version.
Outstanding among John’s many ministries as the forerunner of the Saviour was his witness to Christ. ‘This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light...the true Light...’, John 1. 7, 9. We, too, are called to be witnesses, ‘You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’, Acts 1. 8, and there is much we can learn from John’s witness to Christ. Let us consider four aspects.
John witnessed to Christ’s coming
John’s public ministry commenced about six months before Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. Throughout this time he ‘prepared the way of the Lord’, Isa. 40. 3, by warning the people that the Messiah was soon to appear; ‘Repent . . . for the Kindom of Heaven (i.e. the Rule of Christ) is at hand’, Matt. 3. 2; ‘There comes One after me . . . ’, Mark 1. 7; ‘He who comes after me . . . ’, John 1. 15.
An essential part of our witness is to declare without reservation that the Lord Jesus will soon return, and men and women should prepare for this imminent event by repenting of their sin. The message is more relevant now than ever. Nearly 2000 years ago Paul wrote; ‘Knowing the time . . . that it is high time to wake up to reality . . . the night is nearly over . . . the day has almost dawned’, Rom. 13. 12, JBP. Christ’s return for His church should be an integral part of our witness.
John witnessed to the Nature of The coming Messiah
Both before, and after, John identified the Messiah he testified to the nature of the person of Christ. This included:
i. His POWER – ‘He who is coming after me is mightier than I’, Matt. 3. 11. Our Lord said of John, ‘ . . . among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John the Baptist’, Mat. 11. 11, but John said of Him, ‘He is mightier than I’. Thus, John witnessed to His omnipotence.
ii. His PRE-EXISTENCE – ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for He was before me’, John 1. 30. Jesus was born after John, yet he testified that He was ‘before me’. Later, Jesus claimed, ‘ . . . before Abraham was, I am’, John 8. 58. John witnessed to His pre-existence.
iii. His PRE-EMINENCE – ‘He who comes from above is above all’, John 3. 31. John was of the earth – Christ was the Lord from heaven. John witnessed to His pre-eminence.
iv. His PERSON – After obeying the request of the Lord to baptize Him in the Jordan, John is given the signs by which he could identify the Messiah. These included the visible descent of the Holy Spirit and the audible voice of the Father from heaven. Luke records that this occurred as Jesus prayed, Luke 3. 21. The Father’s unique testimony to the Lord Jesus incorporated two Messianic statements; the first from Psalm 2. 7 – ‘You are my Son’, and the second from one of the Servant passages, ‘ . . . my elect one in whom my soul delights’, Isa. 42. 1. No wonder John testified to our Lord’s deity, ‘I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God’, John 1. 34. Today, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ is being denigrated; how important that we, too, must witness to His deity.
John witnessed to the unique mission of the Messiah
After His baptism, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert. Meanwhile, John continued his ministry at the Jordan. Six weeks later, Jesus returned in the Spirit to the Jordan and the next day John presented Him to the nation, with words which indicated a unique insight into the nature of His mission, ‘Behold! the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’, John 1. 29. To Jews, the title ‘Lamb of God’, would remind them of the Lamb of History, Gen. 22, the Lamb of Sacrifice, Exod. 12, and the Lamb of Prophecy, Isa. 53. The words, ‘to bear away the sin of the world’ would remind them of the Day of Atonement when the ‘scapegoat’ bore away the sin of the nation, Lev. 16. 22. John perceived that Messiah’s role would be fulfilled through suffering and sacrifice. John also foretold that the Messiah would bestow the Holy Spirit;’ He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire’, Matt. 3. 11. Hence His two-fold mission was to be the ‘Remover of sin’ and the ‘Bestower of the Holy Spirit’.
John witnessed to the ever increasing glory of The Messiah
The ministries of John and Jesus overlapped and, as Jesus’ ministry increased, it is not surprising that some of John’s disciples were jealous for his honour, John 3. 26. John’s reply stands out as one of the greatest sayings of his career – he refused to enter into a dispute over the greatness of Christ! Notice three components of his reply.
i. ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven’, John 3. 27. John recognized that he could only fulfil the role that the Spirit of God had given him, and was content with God’s plan for his life. To recognize that the Holy Spirit has the sovereign right to distribute gifts to men is the antidote to all jealousy. Are we content to be what God wants us to be? John was!
ii. ‘The friend of the bridegroom . . . rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled’, John 3. 29. John explained his subordinate role in relation to the Messiah, using oriental imagery frequently used in the Old Testament to describe the relationship between Jehovah and Israel. John having fulfilled his mission now ‘stands’ at the ‘wedding’ eagerly listening to the Bridegroom’s voice. This filled his cup to the brim with joy.
iii. ‘He must increase but I must decrease’, John 3. 30. The morning star fades as the sun rises to its zenith. Similarly, John must fade into the background in order that the glory of Christ should shine forth in ever increasing brilliancy. It was with this crowning confession of self-effacement that John closed his witness to Christ.
To learn this lesson is fundamental to our witness. There is too much of self in all of us. The only hope for a decreasing self is an increasing Christ, where love for Christ’s glory becomes paramount. This is beautifully expressed in Mrs. A. A. Whidding-ton’s hymn:
Not I but Christ be honoured,
loved, exalted;
Not I but Christ be seen,
be known, be heard;
Not I but Christ
in every look and action;
Not I but Christ
in every thought and word.
O to be saved
from myself dear Lord,
O to be lost in Thee;
O that it may be no more I,
but Christ that lives in me.
When this becomes true in our experience, then the initial statement of Theodore Monod’s hymn – ‘All of self and none of Thee’ becomes ‘None of self and all of Thee’.
People said, ‘John performed no miracle, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true’. The result of this was that ‘many believed in Him there’, John 10. 41, 42. May our witness be similarly fruitful.
|
